Miami's flying car port is almost finished. And the flying cars are not far behind

[mia]

A facility that could accommodate a flying-car future is nearing completion atop downtown’s 60-story Paramount Miami Worldcenter luxury condo tower.

Meanwhile, a true-blue flying car just hit the market.

The Paramount’s flying-car port is the brainchild of its developer, Dan Kodsi. He first revealed the port plan last year. Since then, Kodsi says a Jetsons-like future has only become closer to reality. In an email, he singled out Uber, which in May 2018 announced the five manufacturers it will use to test vertical takeoff and landing, or VTOL, vehicles.

And Kodsi noted that a surface-to-air vehicle can now be purchased from Dutch tech company PAL-V. Its “Liberty” edition can be pre-ordered in the U.S. for about $600,000; a sport edition is also available for $400,000....

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/article230533194.html

[Generic Brad]

1. They can't land just anywhere?

That sort of defeats the purpose of having a flying car.

[Funtatlaguy]

2. Are you to young to remember the Jetsons.

They can land at Spacelys Sprockets.
Ruh-Roh Rastro.

[Aristus]

6. Who needs a car port when your car folds up into a briefcase?

[mia]

3. True.

...although I won't be surprised to see landing pads pop up in other places.

For now, this all seems like a story to promote Miami real estate and sell a few flying cars.

[krispos42]

5. Too noisy

You have to quickly move a huge volume of air to lift up something like a car. It requires a lot of power and makes a lot of noise.

One solution to the noise problem is "black noise", such uses powerful speakers to broadcast sound that is the counter to whatever noise the machinery is making. Anti sound, basically. But that's not exactly cheap. And it still doesn't help with the hurricane-force winds.

[teenagebambam]

4. Once the ice caps melt

flying cars will be the only option for Miami.

[MineralMan]

7. A few people commute to work in airplanes.

Every morning about 6 AM a small, single-engine plane flies over our house in St. Paul, MN, on its way to Holman Field, the downtown St. Paul airport. Every afternoon, during happy hour, the same plane flies over again, heading in the other direction. I recognize the unique engine and exhaust sound of that plane, and have even gone outside to see it pass overhead a few times. It's an older, single-engine small plane.

I don't know who's in it. Whoever it is lives in a northern suburb of the Twin Cities, perhaps Forest Lake, given the flight path. I don't know what that person's business is in St. Paul. It must be a good job he's going to, because flying a private plane to work every day is very costly. Maintenance, repairs, airport fees, etc. add up quickly.

But since 2004, that plane flies over my house twice a day. Other planes do, too, including private jets, but they don't do a daily commute. Our home is under the approach path for Holman Field. But, there is that one person who flies to work daily, even on weekends sometimes.

I'm curious to know who it might be and what sort of work he does.

[mia]

8. One thing's for sure.

It must be a person who loves to fly. I wonder if he (or she) owns and pilots the plane or if a charter service is used.

[MineralMan]

9. it's a small plane. He owns it, I think.